EXCLUSIVE: João Nuno Pinto returns to cinema this year with 18 holes in paradise, which will debut at the upcoming Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn. Check out the first trailer for the film above.
The film’s synopsis reads: Set on a drought-stricken Portuguese estate, the film tells the story of landowners and staff who recount the same events from irreconcilable perspectives, revealing a fractured world on the brink of collapse.
18 holes in paradise is a production of Wonder Maria Filmes (Portugal), directed by João Nuno Pinto from a screenplay by Fernanda Polacow. The film stars Margarida Marinho, Beatriz Batarda, Rita Cabaço and Jorge Andrade. Alpha Violet relaunches sales.
In the film’s press notes, Pinto said 18 holes in paradise was “born from a long-standing desire to reflect on the environmental catastrophe we are witnessing; not as an abstract threat, but as an everyday reality.”
“Since moving to the arid Alentejo region of Portugal in 2020, I have lived alongside a community facing drought, desertification and pressures from tourism and real estate speculation,” added Pinto. “I witnessed a landscape where streams no longer fill, grass no longer grows and the anxiety of lack of water. This local reality echoes a global crisis.”
The film’s cast includes Francisca Margarida Marinho, Catarina Beatriz Batarda, Susana Rita Cabaço and Lourenço Jorge Andrade.
18 holes in paradise is Pinto’s first feature film since Mosquito (2020), screened in Rotterdam.
Check out the trailer above.
